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will worship, and return to you. 6. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and the knife; and they went both of them together. 7. And Isaac said to Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Behold, here I am, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? 8. And Abraham said, My son, God will look out for Himself a lamb for a burnt-offering: and they went both of them together. 9. And they came to the place which God had told him; and Abraham built there an altar, and arranged

end in great reward, they imply the possibility of still greater sin; and, therefore, man justly prays "not to be led into temptation." We must understand the great trial of Abraham from the same point of view; he had, from fear of his own life, twice risked the honour of his wife; and he might naturally have felt for his son an excessive love. By the triumph which he gained in this trial he was purified from his weakness, and he atoned for it. Hence, also, the enormity of the crime is obvious if man tries God, as the Israelites did more than once, when they desired to know "whether God was among them or not" (Exod. xvii. 7), a sin always counted among the most heinous forms of blashphemy.

Isaac, designedly described with all the terms of endearment by which Abraham I could feel the vastness of the sacrifice, was to be offered openly on a mountain; but not in the country of the Philistines, where he then sojourned, but in the "land of Moriah," nearly a three days' journey from his home. The choice of the place is, therefore, evidently significant for the future history of Israel; it can scarcely be doubted that the land of Moriah describes the locality of and around Jerusalem. Moriah was the hill where later the temple of Solomon was erected; and where David had before built an altar at the command of God; it is lower than Mount Zion, which lies south-west of it, and which contained the citadel and the upper city; both were separated by

the valley of Tyropoon, and connected by a bridge. In the north-west of Moriah is another hill, called Acra, which contained the lower city, and from which it was divided by a broad walk, filled up by the Asmoneans with earth, in order to join the temple with the city. The greater height of Zion gave, no doubt, rise to the almost constant usage of designating the mountain of the temple also by that name, which was even employed to describe the whole town; "daughter of Zion" is an ordinary poetical name for Jerusalem; Zion is frequently alluded to as the abode of God; and it may thus be accounted for that Zion also is called "the holy mountain," especially if we consider that it was the residence of the kings, the anointed of the Lord. The place of the future temple, where it was promised the glory of God should dwell, and whence atonement and peace were to bless the hearts of the worshippers, was hallowed by the most brilliant act of piety; and the deed of the ancestor was thus more prominently presented to the imitation of the descendants.

The affecting simplicity of the succeeding narrative will never fail to move and to elevate; its charm and truth are equally irresistible; it breathes innocence and purity; and is pervaded by a hidden pathos, flowing entirely from nobleness of sentiment and action. The greatest feat of heroism seems to be performed without an effort. Nor is the patriarch's calmness disturbed even when the harmless but

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the wood, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10. And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.-11. And the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12. And He said, Lay not thy hand upon the youth, nor do to him anything: for now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not withheld thy son, thy only one, from Me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked; and, behold, in the back-ground a ram was entangled in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and

soul-stirring question of the son reminds him of the approaching moment of horror and agony (vers.7, 8). He had conquered all selfishness and self-will; the strife between duty and passion was in him completely reconciled; he had attained that state which is the end of religion. By actually sacrificing his son, he could scarcely have displayed a higher degree of obedience than his determined and unwavering intention manifested; and the text is careful, and even circumstantial, in showing that firmness of purpose. He made himself all the preparations for the journey (ver.3); he travelled more than two days, full of torment and anguish, before he reached the place of his trial (ver. 4); he concealed from his servants the true end of his journey, since they would have been unable to understand it (ver. 5); he made the last part of the way alone with his son, who carried the wood, while he himself took the knife and the fire (ver. 6); in this terrible loneliness, with the region of Moriah visible at a distance, the youth in his simplicity put that question which might well make a father's heart shudder (ver. 8); but Abraham remained unshaken; they arrived at Moriah--"and Abraham built there an altar, and arranged the wood, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son." What more was necessary to prove the patriarch's faith and devotion? A thousand times had he felt the pangs which he was commanded to

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subdue; the end of the trial was obtained; it would have been cruelty and undue severity to require more. Abraham had conquered his weakness; and the action was considered as having been performed.

11-19. Isaac showed himself worthy of his father's virtue and mission. He appears not only as a model of filial obedience, of gentleness and meekness, but as capable of submitting to the inscrutable decrees of God. He was no more a child; for a long time had elapsed since the feast of his weaning (xxi.34); he had, therefore, a consciousness of the impending death; but he yet patiently allowed himself to be bound on the altar. God interfered, and revoked the former command; and as a substitute for Isaac, a ram appearing in the background was burnt as a holocaust. Several Greek myths have been compared with this narrative; but the similarity exists but remotely in some external circumstances. Iphigenia, Agamemnon's daughter, was to be sacrificed to Diana, and the priest Calchas was on the point of performing the fearful ceremony, when the virgin was carried away by the goddess in a cloud, and an animal offering was presented in her stead. But the motive for the intended sacrifice was perverse and barbarous; Agamemnon had killed a stag sacred to Diana; and the incensed goddess would only be reconciled if the king's eldest and dearest daughter were offered to her. The future fate of Iphigenia was enveloped in mystery; it was only many years later, that her abode

offered him up for a burnt-offering instead of his son. 14. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh [the Lord will look out]: as it is said this day, In the mount of the Lord one shall be seen. 15. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time. 16. And said, By Myself I swear, is the announcement of the Lord; indeed, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thy only one: 17. Indeed, I shall bless thee abundantly, and shall multiply thy seed exceedingly, as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate

was accidentally discovered by her wandering brother Orestes: thus, the cruel command, devoid of purpose or moral end, was the result of divine wrath and caprice. But the trial of Abraham was as important as regards the doctrine which it involved, as it was pure in the motive from which it arose. For this is a point of the greatest moment-the interference of God in this act teaches, that not even the most enthusiastic and the most devoted piety requires or justifies human sacrifices; that God, indeed, demands, that man should be prepared to renounce for duty and virtue what is dearest and most precious to him; but that He is satisfied with unhesitating readiness and obedience; that sacrifices of children are an abomination if designed to win God, or to appease Him; though occasions may occur when they are necessary to glorify His name; thus, the heroic mother, in the time of the Maccabees, gave an example later followed by Jews and Christians, who threw their children into the burning pile to save their souls, and to give honour to God. But He never commanded, nor approved of, the horrid rites of Moloch, to whom the first-born sons were mercilessly burnt (2 Ki. xxiii.10). According to the Mosaic system, the firstborn belonged indeed to God; but to be His priests, and to spread His Law. The trial of Abraham implies, therefore, no sanction, but the most emphatic and the most unconditional prohibition of human sacrifices.

The spot where the patriarch had seen

his only son tied upon the altar, to expire under his own hand, was to himself and his descendants naturally a place of sacred awe; and it was to be distinguished as such by the meaning attributed to its name; it was henceforth to signify, "the Lord sees, or selects," and to recall His unrestricted sovereignty over all creatures, of whom He might choose for Himself those He thinks proper (ver. 8); but it was also to express and to perpetuate the consoling truth, that He in reality does not desire or select human beings for offerings. On the other hand, the piety of Abraham was to serve as an example to later generations; the name of the place suggested, therefore, the ready and cheerful worship there to be carried on in future times; it became a proverbial adage: "on the mount of the Lord, His people shall be seen or appear"; the descendants were incited to bring their offerings with greater cheerfulness if they remembered the torments which the patriarch had here to conquer in fulfilling the same duty; three times in the year, every Israelite was to attend before God in the place which He selected; the pious "go from strength to strength, till they appear before God on Zion" (Ps. lxxxiv. 8); and the worship on the holy mountain manifested the truc theocratic citizen. Thus, the name of Moriah had the double import of assuring the Hebrews of God's mercy, and of encouraging them to pay to Him their tribute of devotion and gratitude. And now, when Isaac was, as it were, a second time

of their enemies; 18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; since thou hast obeyed My voice.— 19. And Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose, and went together to Beer-sheba: and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

20. And it was after these things, that Abraham was told, Behold, Milcah, she also hath born children to thy

born to Abraham, and almost "revived from the dead," when he was acquired by faith and merit, and had become Abraham's spiritual son as well as the descendant of his flesh: it was natural, that God should repeat all the blessings which were through him to be accomplished; and this is done in terms undoubtedly emphatic, if not enthusiastic; God swears by His own majesty to fulfil the glorious promises; He predicts a numerous progeny, and complete conquest over the enemies; but the happiness of the Hebrews should be crowned by the bliss which they would spread among all the nations, and, in a great measure, would be the reward of the patriarch's boundless obedience. -Beatified by those bright prospects, he returned southward-without exultation, and without pride.

20-24. The patriarch's career had reached its culminating point, beyond which it could not rise; the text hastens, therefore, to bring the narrative regarding his later years to a conclusion, and it immediately prepares the transition to the history of his son Isaac. It betrays an anxiety to show the uninterrupted connection of Abraham's house with his family in Mesopotamia, from where Isaac was to take his wife, Rebekah; and hence it inserts the genealogy of Nahor, Abraham's brother, who was married to Milcah, the daughter of Haran, and sister of Lot (xi. 27, 29). But though this genealogy is in strict harmony with preceding notices of a similar kind (xi. 26—29), it is not without peculiar difficulties, if compared with the great catalogue of nations contained in the tenth chapter. That it is composed with circumspect attention is certain from the fact that it bears a

remarkable resemblance to that of the children of Jacob. Like the latter, Nahor has twelve sons; and in both cases eight are born by the lawful, and four by subordinate wives; and Ishmael also had the same number of sons. Now, among the twelve names are some which have previously been introduced in a perfectly different genealogical connection; and which seem, therefore, to imply another ethnographic tradition, provided we start from the principle, no doubt, on the whole, justifiable, that the names of genealogical lists represent tribes or nations. Thus Uz, who is here stated to have been the eldest son of Nahor, is, in x. 23, mentioned as the son of Aram; Aram himself, who occurs here as the son of Kemuel, Nahor's third son, and living, therefore, in the eleventh generation after Shem, is there recorded to be the immediate offspring of Shem; and if Chesed stands, as is probable, in connection with the Chaldees from whose country Abraham was asserted to have long since emigrated (xi. 28), an additional difficulty would arise. We have endeavoured to explain these perplexing circumstances in the larger edition of this work. The book of Genesis introduces, then, two distinct branches of the great family of Arphaxad; the one represented by Abraham and his descendants, and including the Ishmaelites, Edomites, and Hebrews, together with the Ammonites and Moabites, and occupying the western districts of Canaan and the neighbouring tracts; and the other represented by Nahor and his descendants, and spread over many parts of the land between the Euphrates and Tigris, and beyond the former river.The Chaldeans led long a roaming and

brother Nahor; 21. Uz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, 22. And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23. And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. 24. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she also bore Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.

predatory life in the parts of Arabia Deserta, bordering on the southern course of the Euphrates almost down to the Persian Gulf; and though distinct both from the Babylonians and the people of Shinar, they generally occupied a part of the territory of the former. But as Terah, on his way from "Ur of the Chaldees" to Canaan, came to Carrhae, in the north-western part of Mesopotamia, it is obvious that the Chaldeans occupied, at a very early time, districts in the north-east of the Euphrates; and it is probable that, at a later period, emigrating from the north and joining their kinsmen in the southern parts of the Euphrates, they caused those stirring commotions which resulted in the overthrow of the Assyrians, and the foundation of the

Chaldean empire under Nabopolassar (B.C. 625); from which time the Babylonians are constantly called Chaldaeans, and Babylon "the land of the Chaldees". Classical accounts record their diffusion to still more northern provinces, to the mountains of Armenia and the land of the Carduchi, and even near the Black Sea. Their nomadic habits may, indeed, even in the Biblical times, have brought them to those distant regions; but it is equally probable, that some of the tribes, preserving their hereditary love of liberty and their valour, after the conquest of Babylon by the Persians, sought refuge in the mountainous tracts of the north, where they found sufficient opportunities for indulging in their warlike tastes.

CHAPTER XXIII.

SUMMARY.-Sarah died at Hebron, in the 127th year of her life; and Abraham bought from Ephron, the son of Zohar, as a burial-place for her, and as an hereditary possession for his family, the cave of Machpelah, together with the field on which it was situated. After the purchase was concluded and duly ratified in the presence of the people of the Hittites, Abraham buried his wife in the cave.

1. And Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2. And Sarah died in Kirjath-Arba, that is Hebron, in the land

1, 2. During the succeeding period of tranquil enjoyment, Abraham migrated from Beer-sheba, the southern extremity of the country, northward, and settled again in Hebron. Here he was afflicted by the death of his wife, who had faithfully shared his pilgrimages. "He went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her." She had seen Isaac grow into manhood, for she survived his birth by thirty-seven years. If the fact that Sa

rah is the only woman whose age is mentioned in the Scriptures, is at all significant, it proves that with her a new epoch in the progress of the human race is supposed to commence (compare 1 Peter iii. 6). The chronology of her life, like that of Abraham, is stated in all its more prominent phases.-Sarah died in the land of Canaan; thus two facts, full of interest, are recalled to the reader's mind: she departed this life, not in the territory of the

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